This blog has nothing to do with gorillas (though I love 'em)...fellow bloggers have inspired me to share vintage images of Disneyland from my personal collection. But don't be surprised if you see something from a World's Fair, Knott's Berry Farm, or someplace else that is cool!

Sunday, February 03, 2013

I have three large color transparencies featuring photos of Walt Disney World, and I decided to scan them; they look weirdly yellowish greenish oogish. They are also undated, which is frustrating; I know so little about the "World" that if there are clues as to when these were taken, they are lost on me.

Anyway, let's see what we've got. Here's a nice photo, taken from a flying saucer, providing us with a bird's-eye view of the Contemporary Resort. That A-frame hotel is almost as iconic as Cinderella's castle; when I was a little kid, pictures of the Monorail track going right through the middle of the hotel were so amazing. Why didn't all hotels have monorails going through them? The oodles of cars surprises me, since I always imagined that early trips to the Magic Kingdom could be enjoyed without your car. I was such a fool!

A friend of mine described the experience of approaching the hotel in the Monorail, explaining that the entrance seems to get smaller and smaller as you get closer to it! Crazy, man, crazy, and yet I grok where he is coming from.

More weird-o-color™ effects blow our minds as we hover above the Polynesian resort. There's nice sandy beaches, it looks warm and pleasant in the shallows. Just beyond the developed land is miles and miles of nuthin'! I wish I could see a photo taken from exactly the same vantage point today. Readers in Florida who happen to own helicopters, you have an assignment!

13 comments:

Beautiful set today! Your first image is reversed. A "flip horizontal" would fix it.

I did enjoy taking the monorail through the Grand Canyon Concourse at the Contemporary Resort Hotel back in the day, but still preferred taking the ferry boat to the Magic Kingdom. It was a more pleasant and relaxing experience.

The only clues I can see is the Polynesian Resort doesn’t appear to have any additional longhouses yet (first image in background), the trees are very young (second image) and I can see the circular watercraft (Bob-A-Round) at the Polynesian Village (harbor in third image). It’s been so long, I can’t remember for sure, but I think it’s definitely early 1970s.

It’s so strange to see guests swimming in the water. From what I understand, you are no longer allowed to swim in the lakes and lagoons of Walt Disney World. Can anyone confirm if that’s true?

The "garden wings" of the Contemporary shown in your photos have all been bulldozed and a large rounder semi-matching new tower for vacation club members only built near the original tower (further side from lake).

There's a volcano pool in place of the one in your Polynesian pic.

Lots of change over the decades. You must've done great work with the photos, they don't look too bad. Thanks for the WDW pics, variety is good! :)

Chiana_Chat, Only one of the Garden Wings was demolisted. In the first image, the South Garden Wing is still there (further side from lake). The North Garden Wing (in foreground) is the one that was demolished for Bay Lake Tower.

K. Martinez, thanks for your excellent info; from what I understand, those Bob-a-round boats were not there for very long, so maybe these are very early? And I also have heard that folks aren't allowed to swim in the lakes, which is very weird. Something to do with a nasty microorganism, though I am not sure it is valid.

Chiana, I guess Google needs to update the maps... you can still see the garden wings in the satellite views. I think I have heard about a new tower going up there, though.

K. Martinez. You know, I went round and round with the first image, thinking it was flopped, but never took the time to actually flop it. Not so lazy this AM. Now it all seems proper. Good call. Thanks.

Than nasty microorganism is supposedly in all the lakes in Florida, so no one swims in ANY Florida lake. The first image is still reversed. The MK should be beyond the Contemporary, but instead we see the Transportation and Ticket Center. No biggie though. Cool shots!

The first photo is indeed flopped (or perhaps flipped), but I think it actually gives the picture a stronger composition.

In European languages, we read from left to right, and lines that oppose that learned movement, leading from right to left, tend to stand out more. That's why you'll often see pictures of planes, trains, and automobiles coming at you from the right side of the image.

It's also kinda cool to get a look at Bizarro (or maybe Looking Glass) WDW. I'll have to visit next time I'm in Adirolf.

I would not want to swim in any lake anywhere and only went in the ocean in Miami just to say that I did! Gimme a good old swimming pool any day!

The monorails are so nice, i could just ride all day (and I actually have for a few hours at a time on occasion)

When my daughter Rachel worked at the Contemporary, she got to ride every day from the TTC (where there bus from housing dropped them off) over to the resort, and she always called me so that I could "arrive" at the Poly with her, which is my favorite resort. One day I am going to stay there!!